Bandaids and Bullies
by Standard-Ang3l
Summary: Seven-and-a-half year old Macy had just climbed the ladder to the tallest slide on the playground when she saw the big kid pushing around a smaller boy with a lot of curly hair on the far side of the playground, behind the tunnels. Kacy.
1. Chapter 1

I've been wanting to do an AU little kid Kevin/Macy friendship thing for a while now. There's this picture of Kevin on photobucket from when he was like...eight or something and he's a total nerdlet. The kind who would get beat up on the playground. (No offense Kevin, I love you and all, but you were a nerd. But so was I...and still am.) Anyway. Macy is totally the type of kid who would stand up for all that B.S. and punish the bullies even if she was twerpy.

Thank you angellwings for egging me on to finish this.

* * *

Seven-and-a-half year old Macy had just climbed the ladder to the tallest slide on the playground when she saw the big kid pushing around a smaller boy with a lot of curly hair on the far side of the playground, behind the tunnels.

She frowned. That was so not fair. She didn't like it when people laughed at her lisp, and she didn't like it when she saw other people being bullied, for any reason. She'd fix this.

She took off down the slide, and ran as fast as she could towards the kids. When she got closer, she got the tiniest bit scared.

Of course it'd be Kirk Williams picking on the other one. Kirk was the meanest bully ever. And she'd know because her big brother had had his own problems with him. Squeezing her hands into fists, she got a little closer.

"Kirk. Leave him alone," she ordered, even though she was shaking.

Kirk looked up from the kid he had just pushed to the ground. He grinned evilly before taking a second look at her.

"You're Jamie's sister, aren't you?" he asked. She nodded. "Thought so. You're tiny, just like him."

Macy narrowed her eyes. "My brother'th not tiny."

"Well, you would think that, being such a shrimp."

"Leave her alone, she didn't do anything to you," said the other boy.

Kirk turned back around to him. "Was I talking to you?"

"N-no," he stammered, taking a step back.

"Well, then, don't get involved," he ordered, cracking his knuckles. Kirk turned back to Macy. "Same goes for you. Stay out of things that don't concern you. Like this kid."

"You gave my brother a black eye. After that, anything you do concernth me," Macy said, crossing her arms.

Kirk narrowed his eyes and let go of the kid. He stepped towards Macy.

Macy's eyes widened and she backed up.

A little too far.

She tripped over the platform behind her and fell.

Even though she got up immediately, Kirk snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "Girls are useless."

"You're the one who'th utheleth," Macy said hotly. She had noticed that Kirk's victim had gotten up and was sneaking up on Kirk.

"I'm not a tiny little girl with pigtails and a lisp and no front teeth."

"I can grow out of the lisp. You won't stop being a dummy."

The boy caught her gaze and smiled before shoving Kirk from behind, but the bigger boy didn't even budge. He just turned around and picked him up.

"This your girlfriend, Lucas? That why she came over here?" Kirk asked him.

"No," he said, wriggling. "I've never seen her before."

"You defended her just now," Kirk said.

"Because you were going to hit her."

"And now I'm going to hit you. Funny how that works, huh?" Kirk asked.

The boy, Kevin, whined and tensed up as Kirk drew his fist back.

Then...he fell to the ground.

He heard a shout and a loud girl's voice yelling, "You are a meanie and a bully and a jerk and evil and thtupid and a bad, bad perthon!"

Kevin opened his eyes and was shocked to see the girl had leapt on top of Kirk and was hitting every inch of him she could manage.

Somehow Kirk managed to throw the girl off of his shoulders and dropped her next to Kevin. One of her pigtails had fallen down and was uneven with the other, which would have made him laugh if he wasn't scared of Kirk.

"I knew you were a sissy, but I didn't know you had to have a _girl_ fight your battles for you," Kirk said to Kevin.

"I'm not a sissy!"

"You couldn't even push me over."

"Not hith fault you're _fat_," Macy said scathingly, throwing a dirt clod at Kirk's head.

"Maybe you _should_ date her," Kirk said, rubbing his head. "She's way tougher than you'll ever be."

"Shut up, Kirk," Kevin said, his face going a little red.

Macy's mouth dropped open as she stared at Kevin in shock. Kirk blinked before looking at Kevin in anger.

"What did you say?" Kirk asked with a growl.

Kevin's eyes went wide and he gulped, but took a deep breath. "I said, shut up, Kirk."

"Oh, you're in for it now, boy," he said, grabbing him. "And when I'm done with you, your little girlfriend's gonna get what's coming to her."

"She's not my girlfriend," Kevin protested.

"Then you shouldn't stick up for her."

"Why?" Kevin had been taught to stick up for people who were being bullied, no matter what. It didn't matter if the person was a boy or a girl. It was the nice thing to do.

"Because it's lame. And you're not really sticking up for her because she's sticking up for you, which is even lamer."

"Tho a girl can't thave a guy from a jerk?" Macy said, throwing an abandoned wiffle ball at Kirk's head.

"Yeah. It's lame."

"You obvi-obvithi-clearly haven't theen Mulan, have you?" Macy asked.

"Girl movie," Kirk said. "Now shut up, little girl, so I can deck your dorky boyfriend."

"He'th not dorky and he'th not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively. "You're next, so don't move."

Macy stared as Kirk drew back his arm again, preparing to punch Kevin in the face. She quickly stood up and drew her leg back, kicking Kirk in the knee, hard.

Kirk dropped Kevin again and grabbed his knee, hopping around in pain. Kevin crawled towards Macy and tried to pull her towards one of the tunnels, but—

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" shouted a grown-up voice.

Macy and Kevin jumped as a teacher walked up to them.

"They jumped on me! And she kicked me!" Kirk whined.

"Tch. Grow up, Kirk," Macy said, rolling her eyes. "You were picking on thith guy and then when I tried to thtop you, you tharted picking on me."

"Is that what happened, Kevin?" the teacher asked in that voice all teachers have when there's tattling going on.

Kevin nodded wordlessly, a little scared to talk.

"Okay," the teacher said with a nod. She looked sternly at Kirk. "Mr. Williams, come with me." She put her hand on Kirk's shoulder and began to lead him away when she turned back to Kevin and Macy. "You two alright?"

They looked at each other. "Yeah," they both said with a shrug.

"Okay, well, the other recess teacher is over there by the benches if you need her, okay?"

They both nodded.

The teacher walked off with Kirk in tow and Kevin and Macy looked at each other again.

"Thank you," he said, fidgeting.

"Thank you, too," she said softly.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"M-Macy," she said, proud that she hadn't lisped while saying her name. "…and you're Kevin?" she said, tilting her head.

"Yeah."

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Nine. Third grade."

"I'm…th-th-seven and a half," she smiled. That was twice now that she had managed to sound out the 's'. She tugged on a dandelion that was poking out of the ground. "Th-th-thec-grade two." If there was a way around saying words with 's' in them, she'd use it. Her speech therapist didn't like it. She looked back at Kevin. "Did you think it wath lame that I tried to help you?" she asked softly. Poop. And she had been doing so well.

He squinted and bit his lip. "No…I thought it was brave. Because you're tiny and a girl and Kirk's really big, even though he's only a year older than me."

"Mulan wath tiny and a girl and th-she thaved all of China."

He smiled. "Guess I'll have to see it sometime."

She smiled back, not caring about her missing teeth. "You thould. It'th my favorite movie bethideth Beauty and the Beatht."

"I like Toy Story better," he said, kicking at the mulch. Their knees bumped and he looked down. "You're bleeding," he said, pointing at her knee.

Macy glanced down too. "Do you have a band-aid?" she asked.

"No...but the recess teacher might."

"Wanna go athk her?"

"Yeah, come on," he said, helping her up once he was standing.

They walked over to the benches and asked the teacher if she had any band-aids.

"For which one of you?" she asked.

"Me," Macy answered.

"Hmm..." she said, picking through her first aid kit.

"I can only find this Batman one right now, sorry. We're restocking the kits this afternoon, so if you need another one tomorrow, I'll be good for it."

"That'th okay. I like Batman," Macy said.

The teacher smiled. "Alright, here's the Neosporin. You think you can take care of it yourself?"

Macy nodded eagerly. "I do it all the time at home," she said, pulling up her sleeve and showing off her bandaged elbow. "Thee? I got that when I fell climbing a tree."

"That's nice, sweetie," the teacher said, giving Kevin a look of 'please watch this child so she doesn't break her neck,' a look he got all too often being a big brother of two.

He tugged the Neosporin and band-aid out of Macy's hand as she sat on the bench. She whined.

"What?" Kevin asked.

"What are you doing? I can take care of it," she said.

"Just let me do it, okay? I owe you for the Kirk thing."

"But..." she whined and adjusted her lopsided pigtail.

"Yeah?"

"If Van Dyke thees a _boy_ putting a band-aid on me, I won't be able to play bathball with them after school." She pouted. "He thaid I played like a girl latht time."

"You are a girl," Kevin said, confused.

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "It wath an inthult. I'm not gonna let _Van Dyke_ inthult me. He hath a thtupid name."

Kevin laughed. "You sound like my brother Joe."

"Joe's your brother?" she scoffed. "He's in my clath. And alwayth following Th-Stella around. Like into the bathroom."

"Yeah. I know," Kevin said. Joe claimed girls were gross but apparently Stella wasn't a _girl._ He tilted his head. "Can I put the band-aid on you now?"

"Fine," Macy said grudgingly.

Kevin put the Neosporin on her knee, followed by the bandage. Macy looked down at his hands as he applied them both and bit her lip. This was weird. She looked up at his hair instead. That was less weird than looking at a boy's hands.

"You got mulch in your hair," she said with a giggle.

She leaned over to brush it out and Kevin grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?" He looked sort of scared.

"Getting it out for you?" She looked at his arm. "You have a th-scrape too," she said, pulling his arm closer.

The other recess teacher came back from helping a kid off the top of the monkey bars. "Hey, you two, I found another band-aid. It might be more to your liking. It's Hello Kitty," she said, holding it out.

"I don't need the band-aid anymore, but _he_ needth one..." Macy said with a small smile.

The teacher smiled at her. "Whatever," she said with a laugh as she got up and walked off.

Kevin leaned away from Macy who had a kind of scary smile on her face. "I'm not wearing a _girl's _band-aid."

She glared at him. "Thtut up. You have a boo-boo and you need a band-aid."

"You're not gonna _kiss_ it, are you?" Kevin asked in disgust. Macy wasn't bad for a girl, but he still didn't want her to kiss him.

"Ew!" Macy recoiled. "Only momth are allowed to do that."

"You're going to be a mom someday."

She stared at Kevin. "Did I make a big deal when you put the band-aid on my knee?"

"Kinda."

"I had a good reason to not want you putting a band-aid on me. So stop being a baby and let me fix you," she ordered, pushing him onto the bench.

Kevin pouted as Macy dabbed the Neosporin on the skin near his elbow and put the pink, flowery, Hello Kitty band-aid on him.

"There," she said after a moment.

Kevin stared at her before finally muttering, "Thanks. Again."

Macy smiled as he continued looking at her. This was weird. Girls didn't stare at him. All of a sudden, she gave him a playful shove.

"What was that for?" Kevin exclaimed.

"You're it!" Macy shouted, laughing as she ran off. Kevin stared after her a moment before chasing after her.

* * *

There's totally a second part to this. xD Putting it up AFTER I GET THE FINAL CHAPTER OF WIHMM POSTED.


	2. Chapter 2

I know I said WIHMM would be posted, but I lost it on my comp somehow...idk. Also, _suburbs _said last night that she wanted someone to post a Jaitlyn or a Kacy, and since I actually had this one lying around...

This picks up a few days or so after the events of the first chapter. I didn't plan on having this chapter originally, but it just kinda came to me. The current day one will be up next, but not til after Thursday. (I have a paper due then) Same goes for WIHMM which, having already written part of it, should come a little more easily.

* * *

When his class was dismissed for recess, Kevin ran for the playground, happy to be out of the classroom. He caught sight of Macy on the swingset and grabbed the free one next to her. Ever since that day with Kirk, the two of them had taken to hanging out with each other at recess, partly for protection, partly because they had become friends of sorts. Macy was looking down at the mulch as she dragged her feet through it, not actually swinging.

"You okay?" he asked. "You're not swinging, and I know you like to…"

She planted her feet on the ground and pouted. "Why didn't you tell me that your family's gonna move?"

"How'd you know that?" He himself wasn't that happy at the news, either, but why was Macy so mad?

She looked at him as if the answer should be obvious. "Joe."

He rolled his eyes. He kept forgetting she and Joe were the same age. She looked six. "Of course." Joe _always _had to talk.

She was quiet for a moment. "You're kinda like my only friend, you know."

"I thought you and Stella were friends," he said unsurely.

She shrugged. "She's really girly."

"What about Van Dyke?"

"He cried when he got hit by a fly ball," she said disdainfully.

He looked at her. She really was kind of upset. "I'm sorry I hafta move," he said apologetically.

"Who do I stick up for when you leave?" She looked like an abandoned puppy.

He shrugged. "Yourself?"

She rolled her eyes. "I do that anyway."

"And you also run across the top of the monkey bars." No lie. He was always a little scared when she did that. He had learned to snatch some band-aids from the first aid kit just in case.

She smiled widely, her tongue peeking through where her teeth ought to be. "It's 'cause I'm a ninja."

"You should be careful," he said seriously.

She shrugged. "Always am."

He gave her the same look he usually got from Nick. Who was in first grade. "So, the three band aids you're wearing are a fashion statement?"

"Has Stella been talking to you?" Macy asked worriedly.

"Not really." Joe didn't let anybody talk to her.

"Oh," she said relieved.

There was a moment of awkwardness where neither of them looked at each other. Kevin finally broke it by bumping his swing against hers.

"Wanna play tag?" he asked.

Macy smiled a little. "Okay. You it?"

Kevin smiled and pretty much pushed her off her swing.

"No, you," he said before taking off.

She eventually tackled him and pinned his arms behind his back.

"Feel better?" he asked when Macy finally let him go.

She smiled and pushed him backwards. "Much. 'Cauthe I beat you to the ground."

* * *

A few days later, Kevin was sitting on the top of one of the playsets, looking up at the clouds, when he heard someone running up the slide.

When he looked up, he saw Macy frantically trying to keep from sliding down.

"You okay?" he asked when she finally got to the top.

She snorted but grinned before saying, "Kirk."

"What'd he do?"

"Grabbed me."

"Why?" Kevin asked with worry.

Macy shrugged and smiled. "I mighta thrown sumthin' at 'im?"

Oh, gosh. This would end badly. "What?"

She smiled even more. "A raw egg. I switched it with the hard-boiled one my mommy put in my lunch this morning."

Kevin winced. This was _not_ going to end well. "Has Kirk done anything to you since the last time?"

"You mean when I saved your butt?" she laughed.

"Yeah."

"Not to me. He kicked my brother in the lunch line though," she said seriously.

Kevin sighed. He was getting the beginnings of what felt like a Joe headache. "So, you decided to take matters into your own hands?"

She smiled as if she knew he was frustrated. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I learned that on Looney Toons."

Okay, that made it better. He smiled. "As awesome as it is that you know that too, I-I-I...why would you throw an egg at him?" Kevin asked with concern.

"Because I'm a bad girl." She smiled, and Kevin could see her front teeth barely beginning to grow in.

"That you are," he said, as he heard big stomping noises from behind. That'd probably be Kirk.

"I'm gonna getcha this time, Misa. Your little boyfriend won't be able to help you."

Yeah, it was Kirk.

Macy sighed with disgust as she turned towards the bully. "Oh, my god, Kirk. Kevin's not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, that's what they always say."

Kevin _so_ did not need to be sporting a black eye at his new school tomorrow. "Macy, let's just get out of here, okay?" he asked, not waiting for a response before he pulled her down the slide with him, and dragging her towards the tunnels.

Macy tugged on her overlong sleeves as they wedged themselves into the end of one of the tunnels. "Today'th your latht day here, huh?" she asked suddenly.

This was not going to be a fun conversation. "Yeah," he said.

"Think you're gonna like New York?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Not as much as here, probably."

"Why?" she asked as she blinked at him.

He felt uncomfortable with all the questions. "Just…'cause."

She narrowed her eyes. "That'th not a good anther."

"It's the only answer you're going to get."

She glared at him.

He sighed before admitting, "I might…kinda…miss…you." She stared at him in surprise. He coughed before explaining, "What'll I do without you around to save me?"

Macy smiled. "Get a profethhhinal bodyguard?"

"I could only do that if I got famous or something."

Still smiling, she shrugged. "It could happen."

"Y'think?" he asked jokingly.

Macy nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. And then I'll tell the newthpaperth all about how I th-saved your life when we were little and you'll be a laughingth-th-stock and then _I'll_ be famouthhhs."

Kevin smiled. "That's mean."

"You're leaving me," she pouted.

"I-huh?" _That_ was a surprising reaction.

She hit the wall of the tunnel with her floppy sleeve. "Who elthe ith gonna run around the playground with me after I egg Kirk?"

"You'll find someone."

Macy wrinkled her nose. "And I thupoth that _you'll_ find th-someone else to be your bodyguard in New York?"

"If I do, she won't be as fun as you."

"Really?" she asked, obviously needing to know the truth.

Kevin smiled and hit her shoulder. "I don't think anyone could be as crazy as you."

Macy gave him a look and shoved his shoulder back. "I'm not the perth-son who told Kirk Williams to th-shut up."

"I wouldn'ta done it if you hadn't showed up and got in the middle of it."

The whistle indicating that it was time to go back to class sounded and both their faces fell a little. Kevin led them out of the tunnel and bit his lip as he waited for Macy to crawl out. When she did, they began the walk across the playground to the doors of the school.

About halfway to their teachers' lines, Macy stopped and turned to Kevin.

"Promith you won't forget me, Kevin?" she asked, looking up at him seriously.

"As long as you don't forget me."

"Pinky promith you won't forget?" she asked, blinking up at him wide-eyed. She held out her hand towards him and extended her pinky.

"'Course," he said, quickly linking pinkies with her for a moment. "I don't think I _could_ forget you."


	3. Chapter 3

Third and final part of Band-Aids and Bullies. Current day. Enjoy. Jaitlyn will be posted later today, I hope.

* * *

Kevin peeked around the corner of the hallway and watched as Macy pulled her chemistry book out of her locker. He took a fortifying breath and walked towards her. Macy was a cool girl and all, but her intensity scared him sometimes. But he needed to borrow her notes, because if he didn't get the notes, things would suck.

"Hi, Macy. I was wondering if I could borr—"

"Whatever you want of mine, it's yours!" she said loudly.

Kevin stared at her for a moment and she blushed.

"Sorry…what were you going to ask?" she said, turning around and paying close attention to the peeling paint on the inside of her locker door.

Kevin leaned over into her line of vision, trying to get her attention. "Could I borrow your chem notes? I sit by the window in Hendrikson's class and there was a bird in the tree and—"

She smiled. "Say no more. I need the notebook for one more class, but after that, borrow away."

"Great, thanks, Macy," he said happily, smiling at her and patting her shoulder.

Macy's eyes widened as Kevin's hand made contact with her shoulder and she froze, her eyes widening as she began to hyperventilate. Kevin pulled his hand away from her shoulder as if it had burned him and took a small step back.

All of a sudden, she shook her head and flailed away from him, her arm swinging and hitting the door of her locker which was suddenly coming to hit him in the face.

He moaned in pain and pressed a hand to his forehead.

Macy let out a small whine and put her hands to her cheeks to hide the blush staining them. "Oh, God! I'm so, so sorry, Kevin…I-I-I-I…you're bleeding. Oh Lord, I made a JONAS bleed! Oh, good gravy. You need a band-aid!"

Kevin sat down on the floor as Macy fell to her knees, digging through an enormous bag. She eventually held up a mini first aid kit in triumph.

"Got it!" she exclaimed, picking a band-aid out of its compartment.

She pulled the paper wrapper apart and her face fell.

"You okay?" Kevin asked.

"It's a Hello Kitty band-aid…" she said sheepishly. "A pink one." She gave him an unsure look, as if she were debating whether or not to offer it to him.

He was suddenly reminded of a time nearly ten years ago when some little girl with no front teeth jumped on a bully to defend him.

"I've worn one before. Doesn't matter to me," he said with a shrug. "I mean, as long as the paps don't get wind of it."

"You have?" Macy asked in surprise.

Maybe this wasn't the best thing to be telling the webmaster of the fansite he was a member of. Whatever. He was already in it. He shrugged. "Yeah. Back when I was a kid. The girl involved claimed the Batman band-aid."

"Cool girl," Macy said absently, looking for the antiseptic.

"Yeah, she was. Jumping on Kirk's back like that…" Kevin said with a wistful grin as Macy placed the band-aid on his forehead. She was smoothing down the band-aid when she froze, Kevin's words sinking in.

"YOU'RE THAT BOY? THAT WAS YOU?" she exclaimed suddenly, moving away from him.

"I-I-I…You're _that_ Macy? The one who told me I was a baby?" Kevin asked, just as shocked.

She paused, deep in thought. "I never said you were a baby, I said you were acting like a baby."

"Same difference," he said with a pout.

She rolled her eyes and fell silent for a moment. "I can't believe I never realized you were that boy! I mean, for crying out loud! I'm like the biggest fan ever. And I never caught onto the fact that _you _were that little dorky boy."

"Hey!" he said loudly. "You were no looker yourself."

Macy's eyes widened in shock at the fact that Kevin had said that to her. Then they narrowed. "I was seven and a half! I had a right."

"You still called me a dork!" he protested.

"Well, you said you didn't think you could ever forget me that last day! And obviously you did! So much for pinkie promises!"

"You said you wouldn't forget me either!" Kevin said. This was weird. Macy—crazy, super fangirl, dangerous Macy—and the girl who had saved his life nine years earlier were the same person. Now it seemed glaringly obvious that that was so, but all the same. _His_ Macy, the one with no front teeth and an awful lisp and who had forever remained seven and a half years old in his mind had grown up to plaster pictures of his face on her bedroom walls. And probably several other places that he'd rather not know about. "And you're the one who made us pinkie promise!"

She didn't even hear him. She had gotten up and was pacing in front of him, talking to herself. "I always wondered what happened to that kid. And it turns out he was pinned to my bedroom wall for the past few years. And blaring out of my iPod. And—never mind," she broke off with a blush when she caught sight of Kevin struggling to stand up.

"And?" he said with a bit of a grin.

Macy narrowed her eyes. "I said, never mind."

"Is it embarrassing?" Kevin asked a knowing smirk growing on his face.

"Do you want me to punch you in the face?" Macy said, gathering her things and slamming her locker.

"Will I still be able to borrow your chem notes?"

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, yeah. Just, don't be a jerk."

"I may be many things, but I'm not a jerk, Mace."

"Whatever," Macy grumbled.

"I'm serious, Macy. Thank you." He gave her a quick one-armed hug before whispering in her ear, "Guess what? You were right. I _did_ get famous and get a profethhhhinal bodyguard."

Macy turned and regarded him coolly. "Kevin, if you want to continue playing guitar for the rest of your life, I suggest you don't touch me when you mock my childhood lisp," Macy said evenly, hoping her tone covered the fact that she was just about to swoon.

"Whatever you say, Pigtails," he said, taking off down the hall.

Macy leaned against her locker with a sigh as she watched Kevin disappear. This was an interesting discovery. And really bizarre. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that Kevin Lucas, Kevin of JONAS, was the dweeby boy who she protected way back when. He had certainly changed. In a really, really good way.

Too bad the same couldn't be said for Kirk Williams.

/ / / / / / / /

Kevin came by Macy's locker to pick up her chem notebook when he noticed the big hulking guy that had Macy all but pinned against her locker.

He narrowed his eyes and stalked towards them.

"Kirk, I told you, I'm not interested."

"Oh, come on, Mace. You're a sports star, I'm a sports star...it makes sense," Kirk drawled.

She snorted. "Yeah, in an alternate universe."

"Hey, leave her alone," Kevin spoke up when he was finally within earshot.

"Who are—oh." Kirk's face changed into sudden dislike. "One of those pretty boy rockers she has stuck in her locker. Of course, that'll change when she finally starts dating me," he said smugly.

Macy scoffed. "As if. I told you. I. Am. Not. Interested."

"And I've told you. You'll be singing a different song when I'm done with you."

"Uh, dude. She can't sing," Kevin said.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me, Kevin," Macy said sarcastically. Kevin smiled. She had a great sense of humor considering some beefy guy was practically pawing at her.

He shrugged. "Just trying to point out his faulty logic."

"Nothing about my logic's faulty!" Kirk exploded.

"Oh, really? You still think Macy's interested in you. That seems pretty faulty to me," Kevin said conversationally. He realized he was probably begging for a pounding from this guy, but he didn't really care. The guy needed to get away from Macy, and if it required him to get a black eye, so be it.

"Did I ask for your opinion, Boy Bander?"

"No, but I'm giving it to you because whatever concerns Macy concerns me."

"Kevin, if you don't shut up—" Macy started.

"I'll pound you," Kirk finished.

"As long as it gets you away from Macy," Kevin said instantly, not really caring what happened to him.

"Okay, that does it," Kirk said, letting go of Macy and turning towards Kevin. "You're in for it."

Kirk grabbed Kevin's collar and the next thing he knew, he was flat on the floor and Macy was kneeling next to him.

"Kevin...are you okay?" Macy asked as she helped Kevin up. She didn't let go of his hand.

"I'm fine," he assured her. She didn't look convinced though, so he gave her hand a light squeeze. "Where's Kirk?" he asked, when he noticed the bully wasn't there.

"He ran off," she said with a wave of her hand. She looked back at him. "Are you sure you're fine? Because I think you should go to the nurse...that black eye could swell..." She reached her hand towards his face, but her expression changed and she lowered her arm.

"I'm fine, Macy," he said, exasperated that she kept asking. He looked at her sternly. "I'm more curious to know _why_ you refused to tell anybody that that guy's been hassling you." He crossed his arms, frowning at her.

"Because I can handle it," Macy said steadily.

Kevin scoffed. "Yeah, I could tell by the way he had you pinned against the locker."

"I was not pinned."

"Uh, you couldn't move your arms," Kevin pointed out.

"I had it under control," Macy said.

"No," Kevin countered.

"Yes," Macy disagreed.

"Mulan didn't save China alone," Kevin blurted out. Now why would he mention Mulan? She was going to think he was nuts.

She rolled her eyes. "I—" she started before her expression changed. "You watched Mulan?" Macy asked, stunned.

Oh, wait. Little Macy had told him to watch it. He shrugged. "The girl who saved my life told me to watch it. I figured it could come in handy." He smiled at her.

"Really?" she asked softly.

"Yeah...you have good taste." He smiled at her.

Macy blushed. "I-I...Thanks," she said, looking down at her feet. She bit her lip and looked back up at him. "Let's go get you that ice pack, yeah?"

"Okay." He figured he should just accept that Macy wasn't going to let up until she had attempted to fix him up some. They walked to the nurse's office where Macy got an ice pack from the nurse before making her way over to where Kevin was sitting on a cot.

"I'm sorry he punched you," she said, holding the bag to his face.

"I'm not," Kevin said truthfully.

Macy's brow furrowed. "But...he gave you a black eye."

He shrugged. "You needed help."

She bit her lip. "But..."

"Just thank me and move on, okay?" Kevin said shortly.

"Sound pompous much?" Macy rolled her eyes. Kevin gave her a look. "Tch. Thanks."

"Nicer…" he trailed.

She lightly hit him. "Thank you, Kevin."

"You're welcome, Macy."

They smiled at each other for a moment.

"But don't do it again unless I ask you to, okay?" she asked sternly.

Kevin grinned, enjoying Macy fussing over him. "Whatever you say."

"I'm serious," Macy pleaded. "He could kill you next time."

"If he keeps bugging you, I'll gladly chance it."

Macy sighed heavily. Kevin was a damn idiot. "I'm beginning to wish I had just let Kirk pound you nine years ago. You probably wouldn't be this noble then."

Kevin pushed Macy's hand away in surprise. "Wait, this is the _same_ Kirk Williams?"

"Yes…" Macy admitted hesitantly.

"Well, then, I have to do something about it," Kevin said obviously.

"No, you don't. Really," Macy begged. "I have a hockey stick and pepper spray and a pocket knife. I can take care of myself." She pushed Kevin back down to the cot and pressed the ice pack against his face again.

"Not if he pins your arms."

"Why do you keep bringing that up?" Macy asked frustrated.

"Because you shouldn't have your arms pinned by him," Kevin said as if it should be obvious.

"So, you think someone else should be pinning my arms? Who?" she asked, raising a brow.

Kevin said nothing, but gave her a meaningful look. Her eyes went wide and she dropped the ice pack in his lap, turning around so he wouldn't see her blush.

This was awkward.

Kevin was her friend. Kind of.

Yeah, he'd essentially protected her from unwanted advances, but…she had fangirled earlier today and hurt him. And she was still in shock that he was the kid on the playground from years and years ago who had put a Batman band-aid on her knee.

"I…I have to go, Kevin," she said, gathering her things and leaving the office. She walked off, a dazed look on her face.

Kevin picked up the ice pack that had fallen in his lap and pressed it against his eye. Macy was rather confusing.

She had injured him earlier but then when she was being harassed and he had tried to step in, she tried to keep him from getting wailed on, and then she fussed over him and tried to keep him from doing something that, while admittedly stupid, was also really nice.

So giving her that look after talking about pinning her arms was probably also stupid and he didn't even really know what he meant by it, but...Kirk was definitely the last guy who should be pinning her arms.

He knew that much.

He got up and walked to the sink, draining the melting ice in the pack into it and handed the nurse the ice pack. He walked out the door and back to Macy's locker. He'd become her shadow until he could get a hold of Big Man to...take care of Kirk. In the meantime, he'd be Macy's Big Man.

He hadn't walked that far when he heard Macy's voice.

"Kirk, you've already given Kevin a black eye. Don't you think you've done enough damage for today?"

"I can think of some other damage I could do that _doesn't_ involve that dork..."

Kevin did not like what Kirk seemed to be hinting at. Macy did _not_ belong to that jerk, Macy belonged to hi—anyone but Kirk.

"So can I, Kirk, but as they mainly involve my knee in your gut, I don't think you'd be interested," Macy said.

"Feisty..." Kirk said softly, trailing a finger down Macy's cheek.

Something about that action caused Kevin to snap and he stormed down the hall. "Get off her, you ass. She doesn't belong to you," he growled.

Kirk turned his head. "She doesn't belong to you either."

"That's not the point, Kirk," Kevin said shortly.

"Well, get to it, then. I'm a busy man."

"Macy doesn't like you. She thinks you're rude and mean and violent and a jerk and totally ridiculous," he said, ticking them off on his fingers. "She doesn't want to date you. She never has and she never will. Because she's smart," he glanced at Macy whose face seemed to be stuck between worry, concern and admiration.

"I suppose _you_ want to date her?" Kirk said.

Kevin's gaze flickered back to Macy who now just looked embarrassed.

"I...I don't know," he said. Macy was pretty and fun and generally all-around awesome, but if he said yes, Kirk would probably kill him and then abduct Macy. Or something.

Kirk let go of Macy and walked over to Kevin.

"I suggest you figure it out. In ten seconds." Kirk smiled. "And just so you know, your answer should be 'no.'"

Kevin allowed himself to be hoisted into the air again and closed his eyes in anticipation of being hit for the second time in one afternoon.

He fell to the floor, surprised that he wasn't injured.

He heard a loud cry of pain and opened his eyes, ready to attack Kirk for laying a hand on—

Macy was beating the tar out of Kirk with a hockey stick.

"Ow, ow, ow! You bitch! You're going to pay-OW!"

Kevin scrambled away from Kirk who was coming dangerously close to stepping on him.

Macy continued beating Kirk with her hockey stick a few more times before Kevin finally figured that they should try to get away and tell someone what had happened before she got caught senselessly beating someone in the hall and she went to jail and he never saw her again.

Kevin yanked on Macy's arm and pulled her down the hall, not really paying attention to the clatter of the hockey stick as it hit the floor.

Dragging Macy behind him as he tried the locks on several doors, he finally found an unlocked one. He pushed her in before closing the door behind him and locking it. Good to know the art supply room was left open, with all those dangerous tools that could be used to kill someone.

"You okay?" Kevin asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," Macy said with a nod. "I wish you had just left it alone. I was handling the situation."

"Are we really going to have this conversation again?"

"I meant the part where I was beating him over the head with my hockey stick."

He looked at her with a raised brow. "That wasn't handling the situation. That was escalating the situation."

"Oh, and you stepping in to save the day wasn't 'escalating' it as well?" she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"No, that was me being chivalrous."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, King Arthur," she said sarcastically.

"King Arthur was a pretty knightly dude. I feel honored that you would compare me to such a man."

"King Arthur's dead, Kev. You know that, right?"

"Or he's living in the mystical land of Avalon if you buy into the legends. Unless you're talking about the historical Arthur who was most likely some kind of solider around the time Roman rule in Britain came to an end. In which case, yeah, he's dead."

"I—how'd you know that?" Macy asked confused.

"Books," he said with a shrug.

"That's…" she started to say. Her expression changed. "I like that," she said slowly.

Kevin's eyes widened slightly. "You—you do?"

"I mean, I like that you read books. It's good for you."

"Anything else you like?" Kevin hinted with a grin.

"I…no," she said decisively.

"How about I tell you something I like?" Kevin asked with a grin.

"Um…okay," Macy said. She felt dizzy.

"You," he said in a whisper.

"What?" Macy exclaimed, jumping back from him.

Kevin shrugged. "Yeah. Probably have since you jumped on Kirk's back when you were seven."

"I—you have? Really?" she asked in shock.

He shrugged again. "I always thought that girl was cute. I was sorry I moved away not too long after that…I wanted to see your teeth grow in."

Macy chewed her lower lip, getting nervous because Kevin was moving closer. "And what about my lith-lisp?" She winced inwardly. She hated it when she reverted back to her lisp.

Kevin chuckled lightly.

"Don't laugh at me! It took me forever to conquer it!" she said, punching him in the shoulder.

"I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing because it's…it's kinda cute," he admitted.

Still nervous, Macy let out a breath. "Yeah, glad thomeone thinkth tho."

Kevin laughed again.

"Thuth up! You're making me nervouth."

"I? Make you nervous?" Kevin said innocently.

"Yeth, you! You're all thanding clothe to me and thmelling good and thit and you defended me from Kirk and you dragged me into a clothet and you told me you liked me and making my lithp come back worthe than ever and—"

"Macy?" he asked quietly, grabbing her wrist.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"Your lisp comes back when you're nervous?"

"Th-th-sometimes."

He smiled slightly. "Sorry I laughed about it. I was serious though. It's cute. Like your missing teeth and your pigtails were."

She smirked. "I still put my hair in pigtails on occasion, you know."

"I know," he said, his voice taking a teasing tone.

"You…you don't mind that that little girl turned into…_me_, do you?" she asked.

"You don't mind that that _dweeb_ turned into me, do you?"

"No…but it would make great tabloid fodder."

"You wouldn't," Kevin said.

Macy smiled and shrugged. "I wouldn't."

"So…is there _anything_ you do like?"

Macy licked her lips nervously. Kevin wished she wouldn't do that. "That mop-headed loser I saved on the playground when I was little. I always kinda wanted to chase him down and plant one on him as he screamed in terror about cooties."

"You're mean," he said, but the smile on his face made it pretty clear he wasn't actually serious.

She looked up at him, brows raised as if she were about to challenge him. "I wasn't done," Macy said, pushing Kevin against a shelf. "I also like that guy on my bedroom wall…but…I kinda like the guy who willingly let himself get punched in the face the motht."

Kevin smirked. "Did you slur that last bit on purpose?"

"Maybe," she said with a non-committal shrug.

"Okay, so…now that all that's cleared up and in the open and out of the way…"

"Mhm?" Macy asked, scooting a little closer to him.

"We're not going to talk for a while."

"Fine by me," Macy said with a shrug.

Kevin smiled as he pulled Macy against him and pressed his mouth to hers. Her arms immediately slid around his neck, her fingers raking his hair and playing with his collar. He made a noise in the back of his throat and shifted his weight, adjusting his hold on her. He snaked an arm around her waist, pressing her close as he deepened the kiss.

Macy whined and squirmed in his arms as she broke away. She leaned against him, trying to catch her breath. Kevin grinned and simply moved her hair out of the way before kissing his way down her neck.

"Kevin," she whined, twisting away. "Too much. Too much."

He smirked. "You should get used to it. I plan on doing that next time we see Kirk."

"I could very easily get used to it," she said breathlessly. "But do you really think incurring Kirk's wrath is smart?"

"You're forgetting I have a body guard. I figure Kirk won't have much wrath to be incurred after he meets Big Man," he finished with a shrug.

Macy smiled and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. "You," she said, kissing his other cheek, "are very, very evil. I like it."

"So are you. That's probably why Kirk fixated on you."

Macy rolled her eyes. "We just admitted that we have a thing for each other while in a small and darkened closet-like room and you're going to bring up another guy? Something's wrong here…"

Kevin smirked. "Yeah, you're not shutting up," he said, bringing his mouth down to hers and capturing her lips again.

* * *

Why do I always have them making out in closets? I've never made out in a closet.


End file.
